The long and intriguing story of the origine of the indigenous Maori people can be traced back to the 13th century, the mythical homeland Hawaiki, Eastern Polynesia. Due to centuries of isolation, the Maori established a distinct society with characteristic art, a separate language and unique mythology. Defining aspects of Maori traditional culture include art, dance, legends, tattoos and community. While the arrival of European colonists in the 18th centure had a profound impact on the Maori way of life, many aspects of traditional society have survived into the 21th century.

A Chinese tourist wears a mask as she arrives at Suvarnabhumi Airport during a welcome ceremony of Chinese Lunar New Year travellers in Bangkok, Thailand on January 22, 2020. (Photo by Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters)

Magdalena Neuner poses in front of mammoth figures during a photocall of the German Biathlon Woman Team at the Archeopark on March 10, 2011 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. On the territory of Archeopark are mammoth sculptural compositions, made of bronze. Mammoths lived in Ugra 70-10 thousand years ago and were members of the Pleistocene, or also called 'the mammoth fauna’. The growth figures exceed the natural factor 2-3 times.

Hundreds of green bicycles are prepared as 960 of them await riders for the new year gala at the Temple of Heaven Park on December 29, 2011 in Beijing, China. Annual New Year countdown ceremony will be held at the park on December 31. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images)

A rose lies on a plastic sheet covering a victim of a Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 plane which was downed on Thursday near the village of Rozsypne, in the Donetsk region July 18, 2014. International prosecutors investigating the downing of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014 say the missile that hit the plane was fired from territory controlled by Russian-backed rebels. They said the missile launcher was brought into Ukraine from Russia. All 298 people on board the Boeing 777 died when it broke apart in midair flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. The JIT investigation's findings are meant to prepare the ground for a criminal trial. (Photo by Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters)